The story of Abraham and Isaac always leaves me feeling totally ambivalent. I'm referring to the time when God told Abraham to take Isaac (his son) and sacrifice him as an offering to God. O.K. so if you haven't heard the story that sounds totally crazy. Oh wait, if you have heard the story that sounds totally crazy. First God tells Abraham that he is going to have a son (Abraham is an elderly dude, as is his wife) and then when he finally has him, God tells him to kill the boy as an offering to God.

I'm left thinking two things.

No freaking way would I even consider following God's request in this matter.

Wow, I am blown away by Abraham's complete faithfulness.

Of course the story goes on and God stops Abraham from actually sacrificing him. I'm left thinking, what happens when we hear God tell us to do something, go somewhere, say something, and then he tells us to stop? Was it that we didn't really hear him? Maybe we misunderstood? Maybe he really did want us to prepare for this and then not go through with it. Is he testing us? Maybe he is just building us, preparing us for something else? I don't really know.

Do you hear God telling you to do something? Do you have the faith to do it?

December 26, 2008

It has been a while since I posted some of our sensory tub adventures. The most recent was mashed potatoes. What?! Powdered mashed potatoes. I put some potato flakes in a bowl for each of the girls and then filled a large bowl with water.

Added some measuring cups for scooping water and spoons for stirrings...

And then we got this...

Naomi played with this for at least 2 hours. She would have played longer but it was bedtime. I should have taken a picture of what it looked like when it was all over. It isn't fun if it isn't super messy!!

I hope you have enjoyed your Christmas! I am happy to announce that we have a winner for our little contest. Tanya from Tanya Adopts will be the recipient of an apron from Lazy Lavender and a FULL YEAR support for an orphan in her name. Congratulations Tanya!

Thank you to everyone for your comments and help with our 25 days of giving. I am sad that we weren't able to complete the last few days because we didn't leave our house due to all the snow. I'll be compiling a list of everyone's great suggestions and will publish them soon!

This storm will just not quit! We've had over a week of snow, which is odd for Seattle. We aren't equipped for snow. The roads stay snowy and icy and people stay home. Well, everyone except those who need to do Christmas shopping. We've had some fun playing in the snow. We had 7.5" of snow on Sunday morning. It was a little deep for Daphne to have a lot of fun in. It snowed most of the day and by this morning we had over a foot of snow. It was WAY to deep for Daphne to have fun in. She couldn't really walk and I had to carry her which means it was too much snow for me to have fun in. As I mentioned, the snow has halted our giving. We won't be going out until Christmas eve to visit family.

Here are some of the things we've been up to while we are cooped up inside...

This was our first snow over a week ago.
Here was Maggie enjoying the snow... from inside.

A pony ride
Smiley happy girl

Making sugar cookies for the neighbors.
7.5" on Sunday morning.

Goofball girl

I didn't take any pictures of the girls in the super deep snow today. Probably because I was carrying Daphne the whole time. She says she wants to play in the snow again tomorrow. Why?

December 21, 2008

More snow! We spent another day at home. Arthur took the car to get a bit of last minute shopping done so the girls and I stayed in and stayed warm. It was around 17 degrees during the day when I checked. Brrrr.... Tonight we are getting more snow and gearing up for very high winds. I'm hoping we don't lose our power.

I am a bit afraid, due to the forecast for the week that we are not going to be able to accomplish our last few days of giving. We'll see. Today the girls delivered cookies and hot cocoa mix to the neighbors to help them enjoy the indoors. We always enjoy taking treats to the neighbors.

Naomi helped me put stamps on a lot of envelopes today. I had to explain to her that creativity in stamp placement is frowned upon by the postal service. She still enjoyed the task. She enjoys doing just about anything I ask her to do that she sees as a more grown up task. When we made our sugar cookies today she was upset when I didn't let her make all the cookies into balls. I told her that if we were keeping them all she could make all the balls but since we weren't... she could make the ones she was going to eat. Once they cooked up they all pretty much looked the same though. I guess next time she gets to make all the balls.

December 20, 2008

Our trip to Warm Beach was fabulous. I'd post some pictures but the camera wasn't working still. We spent hours playing in all the snow and the girls loved it. Daphne enjoyed being waited on by her boy servant, cousin Kobe. Naomi enjoyed getting so much attention from all the family. Incidentally, after Daphne played with the broken camera today it started working again. She's a healer.

A month or two ago Naomi became entranced with some videos on the Charity: Water website. Today we donated to the Water for Christmas drive to build wells for villages in Liberia. Go check it out. Watch the videos. Clean water can save lives.

Unsafe water and lack of basic sanitation cause 80% of all sickness and disease, and kill more people every year than all forms of violence, including war.

December 18, 2008

Today we braved the hideously icy and snowy roads and headed to Warm Beach camp's Festival of Lights. My whole family met there, driving from various locations. Currently we are hanging out in this cozy 5 bedroom house. Our activity for the day was to write cards to each family member telling them what the girls like about them. I'm going go get the girls and have them pass out the cards now...

December 17, 2008

Quick, we need help! We were going to head out to do day 17's activity but it started snowing so we are going to stay home to play in it. What can we do from home?!?
UPDATE: We had tons of fun playing in the snow. I'd show you pictures but the camera is still broken. We played with the neighbors and then brought them the hot cocoa mix we made for them last weekend. We'll count that.

Yesterday was Maggie's 2 month check up. She is 12 pounds which is somewhere between the 75th and 90th percentiles. She is 23.5 inches long (90th percentile). Another big girl! Daphne made Rice Krispie Treats so we brought them to the doctor's office staff. They seemed pretty surprised. I guess they don't get many gifts!

December 15, 2008

OK folks, seriously. Don't forget that my random generators and going to be drawing a name of a lucky winner on Christmas morning. I KNOW there are hundreds of you out there who have read this and haven't commented so your name hasn't been entered into the contest. Let me remind you what you'll win!

1. A lovely apron (woman's or child's size) from Lazy Lavender. I have an apron from Lazy Lavender and it is super cute and I always get compliments about it. Her shop is closed for the holidays so I'll post a pic of my super cute aprons from her. OH CRAP. Just had Naomi take a picture of me in the apron and she dropped the camera and broke the lense!!!!! Sorry folks. No pics at this time... ;(

2. A YEAR of support for an orphan in your name through Amazina Ministries!!! How cool is that?

Now, go back here and read more about all the ways you can get your name entered into the contest!

You may be thinking, "what happened to days 13 and 14?" Well... they came and went. On Saturday we bought gifts for a family we are supporting for Christmas through the Everett Gospel Mission. On Sunday we made hot cocoa mix to take to the neighbor kids. We never took it. It still sits on the counter. Next time we see them out playing we'll run it out to them. Since there was snow on the ground Sunday we had hoped to surprise them with it so they could take it in and drink it to get warmed up. It is still biting cold and there is a bit of snow left so we'll probably see them out playing soon.

Today we are planning to write letters to the kids we sponsor through World Vision and Compassion International. There are a ton of agencies and NGOs out there you can sponsor children through (if you are interested). I am impressed with World Vision and Compassion International also appears to do great work. I've also sponsored a kid through Children International for about 15 years. There is much less correspondence from them and I feel more disconnect from the child we sponsor. On one hand that might be a good thing because they spend less money trying to get the children and the sponsors to communicate, and on the other hand...

It is COLD here! I bundled the girls up to go to Target today. They sure are cute in their snowsuits and boots. Naomi fell over coming back into the house and it totally reminded me of A Christmas Story. You know that movie? Anyway, we plan to hibernate the rest of the day. If it is cold where you are you should make that hot cocoa we made. Pretty good! I'd definitely use milk instead of water though. Much better.

December 12, 2008

We are expecting snow! This would ordinarily be a lot more exciting for me except that I was hoping to stay another night at my mom and dad's house to get some more Christmas sewing done but we'll be taking off a day early to avoid the snow. Those of you from snowy places probably find that funny but in the Northwest we don't drive in the snow if we can help it. And for good reason. The roads are dangerous here in the snow. I can say this because I've lived in a place that got a lot of snow in the winter and drove every day in it. We don't have the infrastructure to clean the snow off the roads here so they are often very icy and slushy if it snows. Plus the hills and the bad drivers... SO, we are heading back home today.

Easy Day 12 giving. The girls chose a few friends to send Christmas cards to. They told me a sentence or two to write in the cards and I wrote them. Mostly things like "I like you," and "you share." We'll mail them tomorrow. Merry Christmas little friends!

December 11, 2008

I had a different giving activity planned today but scrapped that for a better plan. Today I took my girls and my brother's three boys (9, 11, 13) to see Bolt at the theater. My nephews are home schooled so we went during the day when the theater was basically empty, except for one middle aged man by himself. When we walked into the theater Kobe said, "what's an older guy doing at a kid's movie by himself?" My thoughts exactly. At any rate, it gave my sister-in-law the afternoon to herself and it is always a pleasure to spend time with the guys. My girls just adore them.
Here we are at the movies.

December 10, 2008

10 days down, 15 to go! Today has been a long day, and considering both girls are still awake in bed and complaining about something I can't consider it over. Oh, and the babe is awake in my arms as well.

Arthur left town today for work. The girls fell asleep WAY too late last night. Remember what I said about how well Daphne did in the new bed? Scratch that. After being up a couple times each with Naomi and Maggie in the night, Daphne woke up at 5:30. She tried to fall back asleep but couldn't, or something like that. The morning consisted of an accident on the floor, stickers stuck to the dining table (I scrubbed and one is still there...), a major blowout for the ages, marker on the wall (I do supervise, really).... need I go on? I decided to go stay with my parents for a couple days to a) finish sewing some presents and b) get sleep/stay sane. I'm bummed to miss some fun stuff with friends over the next few days though.

The drive is about an hour and a half. Naomi practiced counting for half the drive. At one point she got so frustrated because she can't count by 3's. I'm pretty sure she doesn't even know what that means but she tried her hardest to do it and then assured me that when she turns 4 she'll be able to.

December 09, 2008

Well, I'm not too pleased with the Paci Fairy. True to her word, she left Daphne a treat at the door this morning. Chocolate chip cookies for breakfast? O.K. Paci Fairy, if you say so. Daphne was really excited for the cookies. Naomi too because the Paci Fairy didn't forget to bring extra.

Last night was officially Daphne's first night in her new bed. She has been having trouble sleeping alone for the past few weeks, or probably since Maggie came on the scene, and we have been at a loss for how to handle it. We play musical beds and are very tired. Last night we put the guard rail on the extra bed in Naomi's room and told Daphne this is now her bed. Then we put the girls to bed and held our breath. In the past, they have not done especially well sleeping together. In fact, I'm sure "sleeping" is the wrong term. They start out with giggles and songs and then move on to adventures like getting out of bed for (you name it) and then on to the screaming fights because they are exhausted and won't quit bothering each other. Last night was different. Last night was amazing! The only screaming we had was Naomi insisting she now wants rails on her bed. No, Naomi, you cannot get rails on your bed. Daphne doesn't even need them, we just figured it would keep her in bed a little better and keep her focused on herself, which it seemed to do.

Today we did some "real" giving. We used one of the great suggestions and set a book free. Naomi chose a book and when we were at the dance studio today we left it in the waiting room with a sticky note inside that said;

Finders Keeper!
We hope you enjoy
this book as much
as we have.
Merry Christmas!

It was a really interesting idea. Not something that really improves the circumstances of someone's life or even provides something they necessarily need but we hope it does leave a smile on someone's face and inspires them to give a little.

I have to admit that our giving today isn't "real" giving, but the girls believe it is! Today Daphne sent her pacifier to the Paci Fairy so she can give it to a little baby that needs it. No, it really isn't going to another child but this is a BIG gift from Daphne and she believes it is real. Naomi still talks about when she gave her pacifiers away. She remembers every detail. Well today was Daphne's turn. She decorated an envelope and put her pacifier in it and then we set it outside our front door because the Paci Fairy will pick it up tonight. She always leaves a treat in return, which Daphne is looking forward to. We are very proud of her.

There IS something you can give to today though. Kids LAKE (Kids Living As Kingdom Examples) is raising money to buy blankets for families who lost their homes in the earthquake in China. There is an URGENT need because the city officials won't distribute the blankets until there is one for every household and winter is approaching. Each blanket is $10, please take a minute to click through this link to Kids LAKE and give. Thank you.

December 08, 2008

Spin art is a fun, clean way to paint. This is especially helpful for me when I have to take care of a newborn and having paint all over my hands can be a problem. Or, more likely, having to take my full attention off a toddler with paint on her hands. I saw this somewhere and it really works well. You can buy spin art toys but this worked nicely, cheaper. Just don't plan on using it for food.

I bought a cheap $5 salad spinner that had a flat bottom on the insert. Cut paper to fit inside.

Then squeeze some washable paint onto the paper. We used tempura paints.

December 07, 2008

Today the girls brought some of the chocolate peanut butter balls we made the other day to a bake sale at our church. Some little boys had decided to do a bake sale to raise money for a school in Tanzania to buy desks and chairs. My girls chipped in their baking abilities for our Day 7 giving. Other people brought baked goods as well and they made $150! The sale goes on next week as well so stop by if you want some of them. They are good! Here is Daphne with one of our boxes of cookies.

Today was a fairly lazy Saturday. We intended to get a list of things done but things don't get done as easily anymore. Today was day six of our 25 Days of Giving. There are a lot of different programs you can give toys to for kids at Christmas. I really like to give to kids that are in foster care. I worked for years with kids in foster care so I understand their need. Naomi picked out a gift today and we delivered it to a collection point. As much as we could accomplish today.

December 05, 2008

Today was so much fun!! So far, day five of our 25 Days of Giving was my favorite. The girls handed out flowers to random people! We bought roses at Costco and intended to hand them out at the Senior Center but there were no seniors there when we arrived so we went to the bus station, which ended up being a wonderful idea! The girls made a lot of people happy on their way home from a long week of work. The girls had a blast. Naomi kept saying, "I'm having so much fun!"

It is Friday again! Please join us in posting a favorite recipe so we can all enjoy! If this is your first time here please read this. Once you have posted your recipe on your blog put your name in the auto-link below and put your recipe's URL so we can all go check it out. Feel free to add to these at any time as well. If you can't get to this on a Friday, no worries!! If you don't have a blog, or don't like putting recipes on your blog just put your recipe in the comments.

The theme is Christmas desserts!! This is my all time favorite recipe.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls (A.K.A. the best cookie ever)
There are many recipes out there for this cookie but this is the BEST recipe.
2 C. peanut butter
2 C. powdered sugar
3 C rice krispies
about 16 ounces choc chips

Mix first 3 ingredients together and roll into balls.

Melt chocolate. Dip balls into melted chocolate to coat. Put on cookie sheet on wax paper for a couple hours before eating. You can freeze, but cool in fridge for a couple hours before you freeze them.

My mom's chocolate peanut butter balls look SO much better than mine but they taste the same!! Yum! I just ate one.

December 04, 2008

My friend, Maria, visits a nursing home every week with her one year old daughter. She attends the knitting group. All of you out there wondering how to learn how to knit now know how! I decided that visiting the nursing home with her would be our day 4 activity for our 25 Days of Giving.

We decided to make some Christmas cards to take with us so we enlisted a little help from some of the other little kids at my Bible study this morning. We ended up with about 7 cards to hand out. The residents were quite surprised to get a card and seemed very happy. I was surprised at how well the girls did approaching people, handing out the cards and saying "merry Christmas." Naomi is a very shy girl so I was very proud of her.

Here is Naomi being a ham in front of one of the residents we delivered a card to. Clearly she's having fun.

December 03, 2008

I'm bringing back Great Food Friday this week! The theme is Christmas desserts/cookies. YUM! Write a post about your favorite Christmas dessert recipe and then post a link here on Friday. If you don't have a blog (or don't like posting recipes on your blog) you can put your recipe in my comments section.

Today was day three of our 25 Days of Giving for Advent. Today we talked about the grocery store and how we buy food. We talked about how some people can't afford food and so they go to a store called the Food Bank where food is free. We also learned that people have to give food to the Food Bank so that when people go there to shop there is food to put in their shopping bags.

The girls each took a shopping bag into our pantry and filled it up with food, enough so they could still carry it. Then we all packed into the car and off we went to the Food Bank. There are easy collection bins all over town but I thought it would be easier for the girls to understand if we actually went to the Food Bank. I'm so glad we did! The volunteers there are so nice. The girls got to go in and look around and then weigh their donations.

We then headed to Walmart to get some supplies for things we are going to be doing in the days to come and spent entirely too long there. It isn't easy taking 3 little ones to the store!! After feeding 3 hungry girls, changing 2 dirty diapers, sitting in the bathroom for over half an hour for 2 little girls to use the potty, washing hands, washing hands again after someone thought crawling on the bathroom floor was a good idea, we finally got to go shopping!

Don't forget to enter to win our prize!! A whole year of sponsoring an orphan in Uganda and an apron! Read how to enter to win here.

December 01, 2008

We kicked off our 25 Days of Giving today. The girls each picked an outfit out of their closet they wanted to donate to Clothes For Kids, a non-profit "store" that supplies wardrobes and school supplies to low income kids in the area.

Naomi was a bit reluctant to give any of her clothes away. She ended up picking out a skirt and shirt outfit that she doesn't wear very often. Daphne wanted to pick out one of her favorite outfits. I probably should have let her but it is one of my favorites as well so we chose a different one. I am not sure she really understood we were getting rid of it and the fit that would surely come tomorrow when she asked to wear it wasn't worth the lesson. I also put together a bunch of clothes they have outgrown to add to our bags to donate.

I could have driven up to the back of the store and brought the bags in myself but I wanted the girls to understand what they were doing so I got all three girls out of the car to walk the 5 feet to deliver the bags. It was at this point Naomi really understood what was going on.

I've been thinking a lot lately about how to raise my children to think beyond themselves. To care for others and to understand that the blessings God gives us are meant to be shared with others. As parents we struggle to know exactly how to raise our children in a society that glorifies self centered teens who want $100,000 16th birthday parties.

This year I've decided to start celebrating Advent with my kids. I love cute little Advent calendars. I had one of sorts as a kid and got a Hershey kiss every day leading up to Christmas. I loved it. This year I decided that instead of my kids GETTING something every day, we will GIVE something every day. I don't expect this to be easy. I want to focus on things my young kids can grasp. Tangible things. I want to find ways for them to connect to the giving. I expect this to be extremely difficult. I expect to fall short and have days that we fail. That is O.K.

I want you to join us on this journey! You don't have to do 25 days of giving, but one or two days set aside would be great! You don't have to have children! Here are some things to consider;

1. You don't have to spend money to give
2. Be creative, think inside and outside the box
3. Inspire others to give as well

This ISN'T meant to be boastful! Let's inspire each other!

I want to kick off this giving extravaganza by giving something to you (sort of)! You can enter to win 3 ways.

*Get your name entered once by leaving a comment here with an idea you have for ways kids can give. I need lots of help so please inspire me with your great ideas!
*Get your name entered a second time by writing a post on your blog documenting a way you gave to others. Add the URL link to that specific post on the Mister Linky below.
* Enter a third time by mentioning The 25 Days of Giving on your blog and linking to this post so your readers can come here to be inspired to give. Send me an email so I know you've linked to me! See the email link in the sidebar or email me at thetraintocrazy (at) gmail (dot) com

I'll have my little random generators draw a name out of a hat on Christmas to see who the winner is! You will win an apron from Lazy Lavender! They have the cutest aprons! This is the best part, the winner will also have a donation made in their name to Amazina Ministries International. You will sponsor a child for a year! Your sponsorship will provide a child with their yearly school fees, a school uniform, shoes, all school supplies, 2 hot meals a day, and any needed medical care. Your sponsorship also helps provide these children with tutors and spiritual leaders, to help the do their best, physically emotionally and spiritually.

Amazima Ministries in an organization based in Uganda, East Africa. We are striving keep these children alive, and not only that, but to give them life to the fullest. We want to educate the poorest of the poor here intellectually and spiritually. Today, Amazima Ministries shares Christ's love with 150 children, providing them with school fees, supplies, healthy meals, medical needs, and spiritual encouragement. We provide a home and a family for children who have never had the luxury of either. We provide encouragement physically, emotionally, and spiritually to those who need it most. We provide these children with truth. The truth of a bigger world through education, but more importantly the truth of a God who created them beautifully in His image, a God who loves them and values them and wants the best for them. These children have never known that kind of love.